Patna, Feb. 16: Union minister of state for culture, tourism and civil aviation Mahesh Sharma today said no innocent would be punished and no culprit spared at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

The Centre is besieged by protests and criticism over the police crackdown at the campus. "We will make every effort to ensure no innocent is punished. But at the same time no culprit will be spared," Mahesh said.

He said calls were being monitored and scientific investigation was on to "ascertain what actually happened and to pinpoint the culprits."

The Union minister was talking to journalists in the city after returning from the convocation ceremony of Nava Nalanda Mahavira in Nalanda district.

Mahesh, an MP from Noida in Uttar Pradesh and a long-time associate of the RSS and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), is known for his hardline approach on various issues pertaining to culture, history, society and religion.

He, however, reiterated Union home minister Rajnath Singh's views about outside support to the February 9 meeting on Afzal Guru at the JNU campus where anti-India slogans were raised by alleged participants, leading to police crackdown and sedition charges on Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar and 20 others.

"The ISI of Pakistan is doing its work in our temples of learning. We have video recordings of the event," the Union minister said. "It is our duty to bring the young generation on the right path. If Pakistanis or traitors raise anti-India slogans, we can understand it. But it's unacceptable if those living in our own country do so, or political parties existing here are involved."

Mahesh, founder-owner of Kailash Hospitals in Noida, asked who would want to listen if slogans for independence of Kashmir and destruction of our country were raised.

"The Union home minister has said that anything against the sovereignty, prestige and honour of our country will not be tolerated at any cost," he said.

Reacting to Nitish Kumar's comments that the Centre was smothering democracy in the country through its action at JNU, Mahesh said: "I respect Nitish, but the slogans that were raised at JNU were shameful, hurtful and a worry for future." He also said "nation first" was the approach of the BJP and it does not indulge in politics when it comes to the country.